Does Regulatory Change Improve Financial Reporting Timeliness? Evidence from Bangladeshi Listed Companies

The present study is an attempt to empirically test a research question: whether regulatory change can improve financial reporting timeliness in developing countries. Financial reporting delays in Bangladesh have historically been long. In some cases companies are found to publish results of as many as five financial years at a time. Even in 2003, company audits in many cases can be found to take longer than eighteen months. Long audit delay is one of the main causes behind chronic delay observed in issuing financial statements to shareholders. In a significant move to reduce such delays, the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), in the year 2000, imposed a mandatory maximum of 120 days to complete audits of listed companies. This provides an interesting setting to examine the research question set out at the beginning. The paper reports the results of multiple linear regressions to test the possible association between financial reporting timeliness and regulatory change while controlling for relevant corporate and auditor attributes. Two levels of analyses were carried out. First, using observations from 1999 and 2001, and then using the observations from 1999 and 2003. The results show that audit delays could be reduced by effective regulatory change. Subsidiaries of MNCs demonstrate significantly shorter delay while companies who do not pay dividends show significantly longer delays. Company size, audit complexity, return on equity, and audit fees (except for one model) do not appear to have any bearing on audit delay

Determinants of IAS Disclosure Compliance in Emerging Economies: Evidence from Exchangelisted Companies in Bangladesh

The study is an attempt to examine empirically the level of disclosure of financial information upon adoption of International Accounting Standards (IASs) in Bangladesh and the association between a number of corporate attributes and levels of disclosure in corporate annual reports in Bangladesh. An unweighted disclosure index comprising 411 items was prepared and applied to 188 corporate annual reports for years ending between January and December 2003. The association between the extent of disclosure and various corporate characteristics was examined using multiple linear regression models. It was found that corporate size, profitability, stock exchange security category (Zcategory or not), size and international link of company's auditor, and multinational subsidiary are all significantly associated with the extent of disclosure. The results were consistent with some previous studies while they contradict with the findings of some other studies

Fisheries Education and Research in Bangladesh

With the increase of population and depletion of fisheries resources due to loss of fish growing land to agriculture, siltation, etc it became necessary to develop an institutional set-up for fisheries education and research. A number of educational institutes have been established in Bangladesh and every year a number of graduates are coming out from these institutes. In addition, various research and development institutes have also conducted fruitful research for the upliftment of fisheries sector to meet the increasing demand for fish in Bangladesh. The present study is conducted to explore how these institutes play a role in fisheries education and research. This paper highlights training requirements and future plan of the government of Bangladesh for fisheries education and research. The researchers also tried to identify the constraints in fisheries research and education and suggested few probable suggestions for the government and other relevant parties for the ultimate benefit of the fisheries sector.Keywords: Education and Research, Institutional Set-Up, Constraints, Fisheries Resources, Future Plan, Trainin

Bis[μ-2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethano­lato]bis­[bromidocopper(II)]

The title compound, [Cu2Br2(C7H8NO)2], was synthesized by reaction of CuBr2 with 2-(pyridin-2-yl)ethanol (hep-H) in methanol. The asymmetric unit consists of one hep ligand and a CuBr unit. The Cu2+ ion is thereby coordinated by the N atom and the deprotonated hydroxy O atom in a distorted square-planar geometry that is completed by another O atom. The latter acts as bridging ligand towards the second, symmetry-equivalent, Cu atom, thus generating a centrosymmetric dimeric unit, with the inversion centre halfway between the Cu atoms. These units are linked via C—H⋯Br and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, leading to the formation of a hydrogen-bonded one-dimensional-polymeric chain along a.

Ten years of survival among early-stage breast cancer patients: a hospital-based study

Background: The incidence rate of breast cancer is gradually increasing all over the world. In Bangladesh, we have very little research-based information regarding the survival of patients with early-stage breast cancer. The aim of this study was to determine the survival outcome of early-stage (Stages I- IIIA) breast cancer among female patients in respect to their age group, stage of the disease, tumor grade, nodal status, and hormone receptor status Methods: This was a prospective observational study focused on the survival outcome conducted in the department of clinical oncology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib medical university (BSMMU), Dhaka, Bangladesh during the period from December 2011 to December 2021. One hundred and five (105) female patients with early-stage (Stages I-IIIA) breast cancer were selected following the inclusion and exclusion criteria as the study subjects. Properly informed written consent was taken from all the participants before starting data collection. All data were processed, analyzed, and disseminated by MS office and SPSS programs as per need.   Results: The survival rate was found 79% (n=83). We observed stage-wise 10-year overall survival among the participants where 51.60%, 36.10%, and 12.30% survived from tumor stage I, II, and III respectively. We also observed that 29%, 60% and 11% of patients had survived from tumor grade I, II, and III respectively (Out of 83 survival cases). On the other hand, among the 83 10-year survival patients, 53.8% were of negative nodal status whereas 34.20% were of positive nodal status patients. Among the survived 83 patients, 86% were from >40 years’ age group whereas the rest 14% were from <40 years of age group. Conclusions: Early detection and treatment of breast cancer provide a definitive survival benefit. The results of the study showed that comprehensive screening and early detection of breast cancer is required to improve the survival outcome

Coastal groundwater aquifer characterization from geoelectrical measurements- A case study at Kalapara, Patuakhali, Bangladesh.

Vertical electrical sounding has been carried out in a coastal area in the southern part of Bangladesh to locate the groundwater aquifers containing fresh water. The Interpex1X1Dv3 computer program was used to process the field apparent resistivity data sets obtained from the vertical electrical sounding.  Geoelectric layers were identified in the context of resistivity and thickness from the vertical electrical sounding data. From the initial parameters layered model was achieved using the inversion technique. Correlation of the obtained layer model with a nearby lithologic log concludes the groundwater aquifer system of the area. From the electrical properties of the subsurface layers, water bearing layers were detected and characterized. Very fine sand geoelectric layer with a thickness varying from 20 to 143 meters is an upper aquifer and has 0.66–14.02 Ωm apparent resistivity value. Fine sand geoelectric layer with 0.21-5.99 Ωm apparent resistivity value is lower aquifer with maximum thickness ~250 meters. From the resistivity value, it is observed that the upper aquifer contains saline to brackish-fresh water while the resistivity value of the lower aquifer indicates that it contains saline water. The water quality of the upper zone varies geographically from the southern to the northern part in the investigated area. The water quality of the upper aquifer is fresh in the northern part of the study while lower aquifer contains saline water there

Dendrimer-based Nanoparticle for Dye Sensitized Solar Cells with Improved Efficiency

Dye sensitized solar cells were fabricated with DyLight680 (DL680) dye and its corresponding europium conjugated dendrimer, DL680-Eu-G5PAMAM, to study the effect of europium on the current and voltage characteristics of the DL680 dye sensitized solar cell. The dye samples were characterized by using Absorption Spectroscopy, Emission Spectroscopy, Fluorescence lifetime and Fourier Transform Infrared measurements. Transmission electron microscopy imaging was carried out on the DL680-Eu-G5PAMAM dye and DL680-Eu-G5PAMAM dye sensitized titanium dioxide nanoparticles to analyze the size of the dye molecules and examine the interaction of the dye with titanium dioxide nanoparticles. The DL680-Eu-G5PAMAM dye sensitized solar cells demonstrated an enhanced solar-to-electric energy conversion of 0.32% under full light illumination (100 mWcm−2, AM 1.5 Global) in comparison with that of DL680 dye sensitized cells which recorded an average solar-to-electric energy conversion of only 0.19%. The improvement of the efficiency could be due to the presence of the europium that enhances the propensity of dye to absorb sunlight

Toward polymer composites based and architectural engineering induced flexible electrodes for lithium-ion batteries

Recently, polymers, especially conducting (CPs) and non-conducting polymers (nCPs), have been emerged as the promising flexible electrode components for lithium-ion batteries due to their inherent high mechanical tolerance limit, excellent thermal and chemical stability, low density, ease of processing, low cost, and versatility. In addition, CPs provide good electrical conductivity. Polymeric structures remain almost the same even after hundreds to thousands of electrochemical cycles. However, some crucial factors, such as low conductivity, energy density, and rate performance, often limit the large-scale exploitation of these polymers. Although CPs, and nCPs can provide the desired flexibility, nCPs, in particular, increase the ‘dead volume’ of electrodes. In this context, it is necessary to resolve the issues existing with the polymers to make them effective confinement matrices for flexible electrodes. On the other hand, customizing the electrode architectures is vital for achieving multidirectional flexibility without compromising energy density and overall capacity. However, low active materials loading and deviation from the customized structures after several deformation cycles still affect the desired performance in terms of electrochemical and mechanical. Furthermore, the intricate and costly preparation processes of customized electrodes are the major bottlenecks toward practical applications. This review discusses the recent progress, merits, and demerits of the most widely studied polymer composites-based and architectural engineering induced flexible electrodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Both CPs and nCPs are discussed in the perspectives of current research status, major limitations, key factors associated with electrochemical performances and future outlook of the developments on polymer-based flexible electrodes